Tag: fiction

Sunday Bookends: Cooling temps, family reunions, Gladwynn book three excerpt

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Sunday Bookends8 Comments



It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.


What’s Been Occurring

 Temps have definitely dropped into autumn territory in Pennsylvania. As I started writing this post it was 50 degrees but felt much colder to me. I wrapped myself in my grandmother’s blanket and wore a jacket but still couldn’t warm up. We do our best not to turn on our heat until October and don’t usually start our woodstove until the end of October.  

Last night, though, when I couldn’t feel my toes while sleeping, even with two blankets on, I realized we are probably going to have to at least turn on our heat upstairs, which is electric. The heating oil is what really hits us financially and that heats our downstairs.

Today is my parents’ 61st wedding anniversary. We will be attending a family reunion where there isn’t much family left due to everyone getting older and passing away. (What a downer sentence. Sorry.)

I hope to sneak away for most of it to read a book in the car because people will probably start talking politics and I have banned political discussions from my life for the foreseeable future.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I am reading An Assassination on the Agenda by T.E. Kinsey. It is a Lady Hardcastle Mystery.

I love Lady Hardcastle and Flo. They are so fun. I also like that the books are clean and just fun. If you haven’t ready Lady Hardcastle before they are set sometime in the early 1900s (around 1912 for this one) and Lady Hardcastle and her maid Flo are international spies, but seem like your average rich lady and maid to most.

 I have listened to at least one of the books on Audible and the narrator was so good. She makes Lady Hardcastle sound exactly like I imagine her in my head. The books are written in Flo’s point of view.

I plan to finish Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour this week.

I just finished Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto and loved it. Yes, there was swearing and I don’t read a lot of books with swearing, but it wasn’t full of sex or graphic violence. The main character was so hilarious and easy to fall in love with and be shocked by. If you haven’t heard of this one, I highly recommend it. It is a mystery – somewhat cozy.

Here is a description:

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

A Simple Deduction (An Amish Inn Mystery) by Kristi Holl

The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene (A Nancy Drew Mystery)

Murder Handcrafted by Isabella Alan (An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery)

The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun

Little Miss and I are reading The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright before bed. That has taken up some of my evening reading time.

She and I are also reading Johnny Tremaine for history and English since school has started.

The Husband is reading a book by Salman Rushdie.

The Boy will be starting Beowulf this week for school.

What We watched/are Watching

Yesterday I watched a movie called Out of The Blue (1947). It was an absolutely ridiculous and hilarious screwball comedy. It was about people in an apartment building who have some hilarious interactions and one of them involves a murder that isn’t a murder – or is it?

Last night I convinced my teenager to watch The Third Man with me. It is an amazing film from 1949. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should.

Earlier in the week I watched more Lovejoy (a British show).


What I’m Writing

I’m still working on Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree.

I had fun writing this exchange between Lucinda and Gladwynn:

“So do you think you two young people will tie the knot someday?”

Gladwynn asked the question with a smirk, enjoying how Lucinda almost choked on her smoothie when she heard it.

The woman’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

In Gladwynn’s amused opinion, it was high time the tables were turned on the meddling woman.

Gladwynn set her fork down and reached for her juice, doing her best to look innocent. “What? I mean you’ve been seeing a lot of each other. Maybe it’s time to make things official.”

Lucinda’s shocked expression faded. She pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes, setting her glass down on the table. “That’s how you want to play this, is it?”

Gladwynn raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Play what, Grandma? I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

Lucinda leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “What are you going to wear to church today, my dear? Something nice, I hope. Luke did just get back from Northern Ireland this weekend. I’m sure he’s been very anxious to see you and I know you’d like to look nice for him.”

Gladwynn’s eyes narrowed. “Why would I want to look nice for Luke?”

“I think you know why.”

“Do I? Or do you think I should look nice for Luke?”

“I think you think you should look nice for Luke.”

Gladwynn broke eye contact with Lucinda and began eating her breakfast again. This conversation was going nowhere good, as her grandfather used to jokingly say. “Don’t you need to get those curlers out of your hair?”

“Don’t you need to do your makeup?”

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

I will have some blog posts from other blogs to share next week. I’ve been reading some good ones.

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Sunday Bookends: The last of the summer swimming, planning for autumn reading, and lists of mysteries to read

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends10 Comments




It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

 Last week was pretty chilly part of the week but things have started to warm up again. Little Miss and I hoped that warm up would include some time in the pool but the nights have been very cool so that has left us with very cool pool water. It’s been so cool our teeth have started chattering as soon as we enter the pool, and our bodies don’t really become acclimated even though we hope they will.

Yesterday we tried again, and I somehow lasted 90 minutes but my body did not feel well afterward. The warmest days this week will be Tuesday and Wednesday so I think we will wait to try again until then and those will probably be the last swims of the season.

This week I will ease into lessons for Little Miss to kick off school, but we won’t start in earnest until after Labor Day. The Boy already started back at tech school. I’ll start his lessons the week of Labor Day as well but he has much less to do this year.

So this week is the last week of freedom, so to speak, for the kids before school really gets underway.

What I/we’ve been Reading

Currently: I am still reading Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour because I have been reading a couple of other books in addition to or in between. I am going to focus on the book more this week because there is a mystery woven in and I really want to know what happened.

I am also reading The Gardener’s Plot by Deborah J. Benoit. It is an Advanced Reader’s Copy.

On cozy evenings I am also reading Little Men by Louisa Mae Alcott

I just finished Clueless at the Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield and really enjoyed it. I’ll share a review of it on here tomorrow.

My upcoming list has shifted around some as I plan for reads for Autumn.

Up next, possibly, depending on my mood,

A Simple Deduction by Kristin Holl (An Amish Inn Mystery)

The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene (A Nancy Drew Mystery)

Murder Handcrafted by Isabella Alan (An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery)

The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun

Little Miss and I read Homer Price by Robert McCloskey over the last couple of weeks.

What We watched/are Watching

Last week I watched Clambake. I don’t want to talk about it. I’d just like to never remember I watched it.

I also watched a few episodes of the old British show Lovejoy.

I then watched Just A Few Acres on YouTube.


What I’m Writing

I made quite a bit of progress on Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree this past week. I hope to make even more progress this upcoming week.

On the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening To

I am still listening to The Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiavarini

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

Don’t Wait Until You Feel Like It by Stray Thoughts

Peace Descending by Big Sky Buckeye

Words for Wednesday: Going Through The Motions by Mama’s Empty Nest

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Top Ten Tuesday: The top ten literary characters I would love to be friends with

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, top-ten-tuesday38 Comments

|| Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. ||

This week’s theme is: Relationship Freebie (Pick a relationship type and choose characters who fit that relationship as it relates to you. So, characters you’d like to date, be friends with, be enemies with, etc. Bookish families you’d like to be a part of, characters you’d want as your siblings, pets you’d like to take for yourself, etc.)

From this prompt, I decided to make a list of ten characters who I would love to be friends with in real life – if they were real. Well, you know what I mean.

  1. Cynthia Kavanagh from The Mitford Series by Jan Karon

Cynthia is the wife of Father Timothy Kavanagh, an Episcopal priest in Mitford, N.C. He meets Cynthia either in the end of the first book or the beginning of the second, A Light in the Window. Their love story is so sweet and pure. It’s a beautiful example of what love late in life can and should be. Father Tim has never been in a relationship and Cynthia was in a cold, loveless marriage before. Their relationship starts slow and awkardly.

Cynthia is an illustrator who also writes childrens books about her cat, Violet, a fluffy, white monster who Father Tim and his dog Barnabas aren’t so sure about. I would love to be friends with Cynthia. We’d sit in her little yellow house and sip tea and talk books and cats and how neither of us are really very good cooks or bakers but like to try anyhow.

2. Elizabeth “Bess” Marvin in the Nancy Drew books.

I absolutely love Bess from the Nancy Drew books. I love how she is described as pleasantly plump and isn’t shy about eating whatever she wants and flirting with boys – not even caring that back when these books were written fat girls were supposed to be not who boys would be interested in and were shamed into eating lettuce and a tomato for dinner.

I could absolutely see myself hanging out with Bess. She’d be more outgoing and crazy and I’d be quiet and laughing at her crazy antics. We’d talk about what foods we like and how no matter what we do we can’t get ourselves super skinny but there are times we still feel healthy and happy.

3. Valancy Stirling in The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery

I would absolutely hang out with Valancy from The Blue Castle. If I met her before she received the bad news about her health, I would have been trying to pull her out of her dumps and encourage her to ignore her family’s rude comments about her.

After she received the bad news I would have joined her for tea at her Blue Castle and I would have walked with her in the forest, picking flowers, listening to the wind rustling the leaves and to her read excerpts from John Foster’s books.

4. Jo March from Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott

Jo and I would absolutely hang out in real life and talk about the books we are writing and the characters we’ve created and our fear of people reading what we have written. We would talk about how we feel like the stories and characters belong to ourselves and how we are sometimes afraid if others meet our characters they won’t like them and it will take something away from us.

We will totally talk about how we both snap sometimes and say mean things and have to wrestle the mean sides of ourselves the same way Marmee said she had to wrestle her feelings.

And we will absolutely dish about how publishers in her day were completely sexist and that if she were alive now she could write and publish whatever she wants.

5. Aunt Minnehaha Cheever from Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright

Aunt Minnehaha visited Gone Away Lake, really called Tarrigo Lake, with her family, including her brother Pindar, when she was a child. The site was a summer getaway for the wealthy but when a dam was created upstream it caused the lake to dry up and all the wealthy vacationers to leave, many of them leaving their homes behind. When Aunt Minnehaha hits hard times and can’t afford her home in the city she moves back to Tarrigo to live. Eventually, children named Julian and Portia discover the homes and become friends with Minnehaha and her brother, who has also moved there.

Minnehaha has had some sadness in her life but she is absolutely full of optimism and likes to look at tough situations in a new and exciting way. If she and I were friends we would look through all the old dresses she has and all the old china and she’d make me some of her amazing tea and then she’d tell me that what I am facing now is nothing compared to what they had to face when they were young, living among some very rich and arrogant neighbors.

6. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I’m sure Anne would be on the list of many readers. An imaginative orphan girl who comes to live with an older brother and sister on a farm on Prince Edward Island, Canada would absolutely be a very interesting person to be friends with.

She and I would go walk along the shores of the Lake of Shimmering Waters and pick apples from the apple trees. We would also walk through the falling leaves during autumn to Diana’s house to visit her and have pastries and tea together.

We would absolutely talk about books and, well, I hate to say it but I’d probably tell Anne she is way too focused on what is and isn’t romantic and what romance should look like. If it was older Anne we would talk about raising children and how she keeps the romance alive between her and Gilbert.

7. Angie Braddock from the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries by Isabella Alan

I’ve only read one book in the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries but I really liked Angie. She’s bold and not afraid to find out how someone has been killed so she can clear the name of another person. She’s also dating a handsome sheriff (at least in the one book I read) and has a great relationship with her father who is trying to figure out his place in the world now that he is retired.

She sells sowing materials at her shop and I don’t think I’d be able to talk to her too much about fabric but I bet we’d like other similar things and I would love for her to introduce me to her Amish friends.

8. Miss Jane Marple from the Agatha Christie series

I would love to be friends with Jane Marple and ask her questions about various “goings on” in the village she – er- we live in. We’d of course – like with everyone else – sip tea – probably real English tea and have a few coo—biscuits while she tells me about her latest case.

Since I’m her friend, I’d also follow her around while she solves various cases. And maybe get some credit with her. *wink*

9. Sam Gangee from The Fellowship of The Ring

Sam and I are kindred spirits. We both like second breakfasts and are a bit nervous but also pretty loyal to our friends. Since we are friends we would enjoy meals together and we would be friends after the adventure to get rid of the ring so I’d ask why he did everything for Frodo and ask if he’d like to get more credit.

10. Flo and Lady Hardcastle from The Lady Hardcastle Mysteries by T.E. Kinsey

    I know…I popped in two into this one but they come as a pair, I’d say.
    I would love to be friends with Flo and Lady Hardcastle from The Lady Hardcastle Mysteries. Flo is Lady Hardcastle’s maid but really she is her best friend. Both of them have been spies and investigators and solved mysteries during the early 1900s. Flo has no fear when it comes to tracking down criminals and solving mysteries. She fights the bad guys, cleans up, and then heads home with Lady Hardcastle and serves her tea.

    Lady Hardcastle, like Flo, has no fear and is like a dog with a bone when it comes to solving a case. I love how both women break barriers, ignoring all “rules” of society in England in the early 1900s.

    I could see us enjoying tea (I know! I like tea! What can I say?) and talking about cases we’ve solved together and laughing about how we’ve shown the men in our small town that women can do more than cook and clean and keep house.

    How about you? What literary characters would you love to be friends with?

    Sunday Bookends: Summer movies, school starting, and more mysteries to read

    On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends15 Comments




    It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

    This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

    What’s Been Occurring

     School starts for The Boy this week. It will start the following week for Little Miss.

    I rambled about what’s been going on in my blog post from yesterday.

    What I/we’ve been Reading

    I am still reading Clueless At The Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield (really enjoying it) and Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour.

    Renee by Sandra Ardoin




    A Simple Deduction by Kristi Holl (An Amish Inn Mystery)

    World Traveler by Anthony Bourdain

    Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett

    The Author’s Guide To Murder by Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams, and Karen White

    Gardner’s Plot by Deborah Benoit

    The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashi

    What We watched/are Watching

    The Husband and I watched a Magnum P.I./Murder She Wrote crossover yesterday. I expected more from it, but then I learned there is a second part so we will be watching that tomorrow after he gets off work.

    I started a Hayley Mills movie – Summer Magic — that I planned to replace one of the movies in my Summer Movie Marathon series since Having A Wonderful Time isn’t streaming anywhere and I don’t really want to order a DVD of it. I’m really not liking the movie very much so I don’t know if I will stick it out or not or watch something else for the marathon.

    This morning I watched Just A Few Acres Farm after we watched the sermon from Elevation Church together. This is a Sunday tradition.

    The sermon was excellent this week.

    Just A Few Acres was interesting as he worked on fixing up an old truck with his son.

    Last week he was spray painting a tractor and I know I’m old now because that was simply fascinating to me. Fascinating and very relaxing.


    What I’m Writing

    This week on the blog I shared:

    My book Cassie came out last week on Amazon. You can learn more about it here:

    It’s part of a series but can be read as a stand alone.

    I made quite a bit of progress on Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree which I hope to have out by early November.

    What I’m Listening To

    I listened a little more to The Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chaverini and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

    Photos from Last Week

    Now it’s your turn

    Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

    Sunday Bookends: Autumn is coming, watching summer movies, and school is starting soon

    On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends17 Comments



    It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

    This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

    What’s Been Occurring

     We had a threat of flash flooding Friday thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Debby but in the end the pattern moved to our west and Westfield, Pa., which is a couple hours from us, was hit extremely hard. Some areas around us had some issues but nothing like Westfield.

    Temperatures have cooled way down and now that we are moving toward Autumn (which I wanted) I am feeling somewhat melancholy, knowing that our days of swimming are coming to an end. Little Miss and I haven’t been swimming in two weeks due to either algae in the pool that had to be treated, a leak that was found and fixed, or chlorine that was too high. We are going to try again today but with temps only supposed to get in the low 70s I have a feeling we won’t be in long.

    The days are already getting shorter – I’ve noticed that it is dark by 8:30 now. The cats are looking for more snuggles than before and we are now preparing for the start of the school year.

    I have almost all the curriculum we need for the year but I do need a couple of things still for The Boy, who is a senior this year and will be attending a local trade school again this year.  

    What I/we’ve been Reading

    Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour

    Renee by Sandra Ardoin

    Clueless At the Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield

     Tracking Tilly by Janice Thompson

    The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes by Carolyn Keene




    A Simple Deduction by Kristi Holl

    The Gardner’s Plot by Deborah Benoit

    The Author’s Guide to Murder by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig

    An Assassination On the Agenda by T.E. Kinsey

    Little Miss and I are listening to The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson

    The Boy is listening to The Witcher, book one.

    The Husband is reading The Donut Legion by Joe R. Lansdale

    What We watched/are Watching

    Since I last posted a Sunday Bookends I have watched a lot but I didn’t write it all down so I might not remember everything.

    I know I watched a couple of summer movies – Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation and Summertime.

    I have started Somewhere in Time but I haven’t finished it yet.

    I watched Ladies in Lavender and a couple marathons of Murder She Wrote as well as an episode of Yes, Minister with my mom.


    What I’m Writing

    I am writing the third book in the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series: Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree.

    The first book in the series is free today on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1KSQJXP

    Cassie, the eighth book in the Apron Strings Book series releases Thursday. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1VW9TVK

    On the blog I shared:

    What I’m Listening To

    I am listening to the Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini.

    Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

    The Lily Cafe Weekly Highlights – August 9, 2024
    Talk a walk with me.
    Birthday at the Brasserie!
    Tuesday Tour: a light history

    Now it’s your turn

    Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

    Did you know that I am having a huge discount on the paid subscriptions for my Substack and that when you are a paid subscriber you will receive sneak peeks to upcoming books (like Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree, which will come out this autumn), behind the scenes looks, discounts, author interviews, giveaways, and many other perks?

    No?

    Well, now you know. You can find my substack, which is updated a few times a month, at www.lisarhowler.substack.com

    Fiction Friday: An interview with Sandra Ardoin

    On By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading3 Comments



    Today for Fiction Friday I am interviewing Sandra Ardoin who has a new book out. Renee is the seventh book in the Apron Strings Book Series, a multi-author series of which I am also a part.

    Each book can be read as a standalone with the only connecting factor being an old-fashioned cookery (recipe) book called Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book. Each book takes place in a decade from 1920 to 2020.

    Sandra’s book takes place in the 1980s.

    First, a little about the book:

    Renee Burnette, a widow living in the North Carolina mountains, has longed for two things she never had growing up—a permanent home and a lasting friendship like the one she has with Val from her cooking club. In the summer of 1986, the local apple growers sponsor a bake-off with a monetary prize that would bring Renee closer to her housing goal. But after Renee and Val each enter, their relationship goes from best friends to bitter rivals.

    When Renee learns of the opportunity for a promotion at work, she’s determined to prove her qualifications to her handsome, single boss. The closer they draw to one another, though, the more Renee fears that an office romance will jeopardize her job and her housing dream.

    As the bake-off competition intensifies, Renee’s office relationships are strained, her sweet son becomes unruly, and the rift with Val widens. Can a decades-old cookbook help Renee restore the bonds every woman needs?



    Now, an interview with Sandra:

    1.        Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

    For me, writing is a business, but it’s also a ministry, so the faith aspect is important. I write Christian romance and began with historicals set in the late 19th century. For the past couple of years, though, I’ve written contemporary romances. Honestly, I’m eager to get back to the past and alternate with a mix of time periods.

    My writing career began in 1986 (the same year in which Renee takes place) with greeting cards and posters, then I moved on to children’s short stories for Sunday School take-home papers. I’m a big believer in God’s timing, and His timing, when it came to writing novels, was not until 2009. That’s been my focus since, with my first (a novella) traditionally published in 2014 and the follow-up novel in 2016—the Barnes Brothers series. In 2019, I went independent and have published ten additional novels and novellas.

    In my real life, I’m a wife, mom, and occasional granddog-sitter living in North Carolina.

    2.        What is your latest book about? Who are the main characters and when and where does it take place?

    My latest book is Renee, Book Seven in the Apron Strings series. In this series of books that takes place in different decades, I was blessed to be given the 1980s, a decade I know well. I set the book in western North Carolina near Asheville and gave the story a young widow (Renee) with a six-year-old boy. She had a somewhat vagabond childhood and yearns for a sense of belonging and lifelong friendships.

    Renee believes a house, rather than the small apartment she and her son now occupy, will offer that permanency she’s lacked in life. Hoping the prize money will complete the funds she needs to buy a house, she enters a baking contest, only to discover she’s competing against her best friend.

    3.        What is the overarching message of your latest book?  

    Renee is a story about relationships . . . with a little romance thrown in. Her go-to verses are Ecclesiastes 4:9-10. I chose those scriptures, because they are so  because they are so apropos to Renee’s spiritual growth.

    4.        Did you learn anything about writing or yourself as you were writing the book?

    I’m accustomed to writing romance from two points of view—the hero and heroine. This book is only in Renee’s point of view and light on the romance. When it came to her interactions with Greg, I so wanted to write his POV, too, which made the romance a little more challenging for me.

    5.        Where can readers find out more about you and your projects?

    Readers can visit my website and find my complete book list at http://www.sandraardoin.com/books. I’m also on BookBub, Facebook, X , and Goodreads.

    The best way to keep up with what’s new, discover what’s upcoming, and learn of sales and specials is to subscribe to my newsletter. I send it out once a month or when something special is happening, like a sale or new release.

    Check out Renee or any of the books in the Apron Strings series on Amazon and read them through Kindle Unlimited.

    Book recommendation/review: Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker (I wanted to like this one more than I did)

    On By Lisa R. HowelerIn book reviews, books and reading5 Comments

    Title: Live and Let Cha

    Author: Bree Baker

    Genre: cozy mystery

    Description:

    Sun, sand, and tea are just three of Everly Swan’s favorite things. Her batty, beekeeping great-aunts and small, coastal hometown of Charm, North Carolina, round out the top five. So returning to Charm for a fresh start on her wilting life is an easy decision for Everly, and opening a new seaside cafe and iced-tea shop puts the proverbial icing on her legendary lemon cakes.

    Everything is just peachy until a body turns up on the boardwalk outside her home and a jar of her proprietary tea is found at the victim’s side.

    Now, Detective Grady Hays, Charm’s newest and most mysterious lawman, has named Everly as his number-one suspect, and Everly’s new start is about to go up in smoke unless she can dish up the real killer.

    I’d heard so much about this book from other cozy mystery readers of Booktubers so I was excited when it finally became available through Libby, the library ebook app.

    I started it and really enjoyed it in the beginning. I even found out I could listen to it for free via Audible for the times I couldn’t sit and read. I then discovered that Bree Baker was the pen name for another author I’d recently read – Julie Anne Lindsey – so I was sure the book would be as good as everyone said. Lindsey’s book was Apple Cider Slaying, which I really enjoyed.

    The writing is great, don’t get me wrong, but after a few chapters I began to realize that I was reading the beach version of Apple Cider Slaying.

    Sure, the characters were somewhat different – an extra elderly relative was thrown into this one with two aunts instead of just one grandma – but otherwise the plots were somewhat similar.

    There was a person in town who didn’t like the main character, Everly,  having her business in her home and before the end of chapter one he was dead.

    Everly was considered a possible suspect so she had to clear her name. In Apple Cider Slaying, the main character had to clear her grandmother’s name.

    Once again we  had a former U.S. Marshal who moved to a small town to start over as the local police chief and the main character found out more about him by looking him up online.

    This time we tossed a kid and dead wife into the mix, but the police chief does become a love interest.

    Now, all this being said, I’m not saying the book was bad. There were aspects I liked about it, including the back story of the Swan family.

    Overall, the book was interesting and engaging even if it was predictable and not as good as I had hoped. Still, cozy mysteries aren’t known to be creatively unique or full of depth all the time. They often simply give readers what they want – a mystery to solve by an amateur sleuth who must clear either her name or that of a friend or family member and some quirky and fun characters. Cozy mysteries are to cozy mystery readers like romances are to romance readers – comfortingly predictable and maybe even slightly cheesy.

    Live and Let Chai had all of that so I enjoyed it, yes, but I don’t know if I will rush out to read the next in the series – especially because I didn’t really like the main character that much. She was a bit rude and pushy at times.

     I will, however, most likely read the next in the series at some point because I am curious to see if the other books will be as predictable or if Lindsey – er – Baker will break the mold a bit.

    Have you read this one? What did you think?

    Sunday Bookends: I can’t think of an interesting title for this week

    On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends11 Comments

    It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

    This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.
    ‘


    What’s Been Occurring

    I wrote about our week in my post yesterday.

    After I posted that post the kids and I picked up a friend of The Boy’s and brought him home to our fold to become one of the family for a couple of days – though he is really part of the family even when he isn’t here.

    We also stopped and picked up groceries.

    Yes. It was a very exciting day, but we needed that after our busy week last week.

    What I/we’ve been Reading

    The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.

    I’m very much enjoying this book which is so much different than the Anne of Green Gables books. I love the main character and can’t wait to see what happens to her in the end.

    When You Returned by Havelah McClat

    Tracking Tilly by Janice Thompson

    I put Dandelion Cottage by Carrol Watson Rankin to the side and plan to pick it back up in the fall to read with Little Miss – or actually we may start it this week because am I as writing this I remembered we finished our read aloud this week.

    Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright


    Renee by Sandra Ardoin

    Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour

    An Assassination on the Agenda by T.E. Kinsey

    What We watched/are Watching

    This week I watched the original Gidget movie (1959) for my planned Summer Movie Marathon and will write about it in a future post.

    I also rewatched the 2010 version of True Grit with The Boy and his friend. As usual I cried at the end. It’s such a good movie.


    What I’m Writing

    This week on the blog I shared:

    What I’m Listening To

    I am currently listening to The Cross-Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini.

    I have also been listening to Anne Wilson’s album, Rebel.

    Photos from Last Week

    Now it’s your turn

    Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

    Sunday Bookends: It’s hot. It’s hot. It’s way too hot. And reading.

    On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends16 Comments




    It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

    This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.



    What’s Been Occurring

     We have been sweating. We will sweat more this week. We will try to go swimming and maybe do some other things as family since The Husband has this next week off work. I am ready for Summer to be over. I’m sorry Summer lovers but I hate the heat. If it can be 65 to 70 for the rest of Summer, then it can stay. Otherwise – buh-bye *wink*

    If you want to read about how much I want Summer to go away and Autumn to come, you can read my post from yesterday.

    What I/we’ve been Reading

    The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

    Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker

    The Chosen Kids Saga Book One: Encounter at the Dunes by R.W. Ruiz (not related to the show The Chosen/children’s book)

    Return to Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (reading with Little Miss on nights we don’t fall asleep early)

    The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

    Renee by Sandra Ardoin

    Dandelion Cottage by Carol Watson Rankin

    Clueless At the Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield

    Little Men by Louisa Mae Alcott

    What We watched/are Watching

    I have been rewatching All Creatures Great And Small (the modern version) and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew series (more on that later this week), but not a lot else. I’ve been reading and writing a bit more lately.


    What I’m Writing

    I am working on Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree (the title is tentative at this point), which is the third book in the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries. I’m having fun writing it and I hope you’ll have fun reading it.

    I don’t mention it a lot here but if you want to read the other two books you can find a link to them in the My Books section in the menu at the top of the page.

    I’m also offering 50 percent off annual paid subscriptions to my Substack newsletter/author site. I’ll be offering sneak peeks, author interviews, and several other perks on there and this week added an epub version of Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing to all paid subscriptions.

    If you are interested in the discount, you can use this coupon link:

    https://lisarhoweler.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=3809a83a

    This week on the blog I shared:

    What I’m Listening To

    I am listening to Live & Let Chai by Bree Baker when I am driving somewhere, while also reading the ebook on Kindle.

    Music-wise I am listening to Anne Wilson’s Rebel album.

    Now it’s your turn

    Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.